S.S. Badger - Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin

Wednesday, 24 June 2026 

A "bucket list" ferry ride across Lake Michigan. The service was started by the C&O railroad to ferry railcars across the lake, avoiding Chicago. Rail service stopped a long time ago, and the ships have been converted to car/truck/passenger service. Only two ships remain: the S.S. Badger and the S.S. Spartan. (College sports fans will recognized the significance of these names.)

The S.S. Badger at the dock in Ludington, Michigan.

Loading vehicles and passengers. Unlike most car ferries we've been on, you do not drive your own car on board - the crew does. However, motorcyclists do ride their own motorcycles on board.
Note the "National Historic Landmark" designation. The Badger is one of only two mobile "landmarks" - the other being the San Francisco cable cars.

I didn't expect to see lounge chairs on the open bow on the upper deck. Unfortunately, the day was cool and rainy - not conducive to spending time outside on the four-hour cruise. On the lower passenger deck were plenty of amenities: a museum, a gift store, a movie theater, an arcade, a children's play room, and a cafeteria, where in addition to getting eats and drinks, you can play "Badger Bingo". Not to mention a snack bar and two bars.

The Badger still runs on the original coal-fired steam engine, so it's not the environmentally friendliest ship on the Great Lakes.

Manitowoc harbor. The weather was much nicer in Wisconsin, although we still had occasional rain showers on our drive down to Naperville, Illinois.

As we approached Manitowoc, hundreds of herring gulls started following the ship.

And as we neared the dock, families of Canada geese, with lots of juveniles, were in the water.

The final approach to the dock. You can see the evidence of train tracks on the vehicle deck.

Cars were off-loaded into a parking lane, where passengers pick up their car and drive away. Trucks and RVs were in a separate area.

We were pleasantly surprised by our morning sailing across Lake Michigan. Maybe we'll find an excuse to do it again!

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Tuesday, 23 June 2026

After leaving Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, we drove to the Lower Peninsula and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan near Empire, Michigan.

The Mackinac Bridge connects the two Michigan Peninsulas. The waters underneath connect Lakes Michigan and Huron.

When we got to Sleeping Bear Dunes, it was mid-afternoon, and we had limited time in the park. We decided that the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive was the best choice.

Stop #2. Glen Lake Overlook.

Stop #9/#10. Lake Michigan Overlook. Signs warn that it is easy to go down 400 ft to the beach, but climbing 400 ft back up the dune is extremely strenuous and not recommended!

Looking up at the top of the dune. At the top is a grand 360° view.

Looking back at the Lake Michigan overlook from the top of the dune.

Stop #11 - Looking south from North Bar Lake overlook. South Bar Lake is barely visible in the foreground. Lake Michigan is on the right.

The Anishinaabek Story of the Manitou Islands and Sleeping Bear Dune

Once, long ago, across the great lake in Wisconsin, there was terrible hunger, and many people and animals died. A bear and her two little cubs, desperate for food, left that place to swim the long distance to the other side of the lake.

After a while the cubs became very tired, and so the bear said: "Try hard, the land is not very far." But gradually the cubs weakened. Exhausted, one cub sank into the water when they were within sight of land. Soon after, the other also drowned.

The bear's heart was broken, but she could do nothing. She waded ashore and climbed the bluff to lie down looking out on the water where her cubs had died. However, both of them surfaced as two little islands. And so the bear still lies there now - looking after her children.

As told in the National Park Service brochure

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Monday, 22 June and Tuesday, 23 June 2026

250 miles east on the south shore of Lake Superior is another national lakeshore - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore near Munising, Michigan. The park stretches most of the way between Munising and Grand Marais, Michigan - almost 50 miles of lakeshore. We had more time at Pictured Rocks, so in addition to a boat ride along the shore, we also got in a couple of short (1 mile) hikes.

Sand Point Marsh Trail

While waiting for our boat ride, we drove the short distance to Sand Point where there is a nice sandy beach and a marsh with a boardwalk trail.

This deer was right next to the boardwalk, enjoying a diet of marsh plants. As we approached, it eventually moved away, but was generally unconcerned with visitors. This was an adult white-tailed deer and gives you an idea of how tall the marsh plants are.

Black spruce on the far shore of the marsh.

Pictured Rocks Shoreline Cruise

The only way to really see the rocky shore is from watercraft. We opted to take the Spray Falls boat tour with Pictured Rocks Cruises. In places there are long walls of cliffs stained by mineral-laden groundwater. In other places there are cliffs and headlands eroded into fantastical shapes. And finally, there are also miles of sandy beaches and turquoise waters. I took about 150 photos on the cruise. A small selection of the most notable landmarks are below.

Miners Castle. Miners Beach is visible at the left.

Bridal Veil Falls

A classic example of "pictured rocks".

Lover's Leap arch.

Indianhead Rock

"Battleship Row" with Chapel Beach at the left.

To show just how steep the shoreline is in parts, the boat drove up into Chapel Cove until you could nearly touch the rocks.

Chapel Beach Falls is a popular wading/bathing/swimming spot.

Chapel Rock is topped by a pine that tenuously clings to life via a single root to the mainland. The tree is obviously quite old, since this root had to have been established before the arch connecting the rock to the mainland collapsed.

Spray Falls - the turnaround point for our trip. The cliffs continue for about another mile, followed by Twelvemile Beach, which is still not the end of the park.

East Channel Lighthouse.

Munising Beacon (red light near center bottom). With modern navigation aids such as GPS and radar, most of the old lighthouses have been shut down. Some have been replaced with energy efficient beacons.

A closer look at the beacon (no longer flashing red).

Miners Falls & Castle

After the cruise, we took a short hike to view Miners Falls.

Miners Castle as seen from the Miners Castle overlook.

Lake Superior Overlook

The next morning we went to a couple of additional sites before setting our sights on Sleeping Bear Dunes and Ludington in the Lower Peninsula.

The view of Lake Superior from the overlook. The far shore is not visible.

Log Slide

Our last stop in Pictured Rocks was the Log Slide overlook. This turned out to be an interesting site that explained logging practices around the turn of the 20th century. Horses supplied the hauling power. Most of the timber was gone by 1910.

These "big wheel" carts could haul logs under the axel. The wheels could be used year-round since they didn't get stuck in the spring muds.

The log slide down to the lake. It's about 400 ft down to the water.

Looking down the slide. Once in the water, the logs were bundled into rafts and floated to sawmills along the lake.

The Au Sable Lighthouse is visible from the Log Slide area.

The Grand Sable Dunes start just east of the Log Slide and continue for about 5 miles.

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

 Sunday, 21 June 2026

The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is on (and in) Lake Superior at Bayfield, Wisconsin. We booked a late afternoon cruise with Apostle Island Cruises, and it was a wonderful, but cold and windy, boat ride. By the time we finished the cruise, almost everyone had left the open top deck for the comfort of the enclosed deck below.

Lots of herring gulls in the harbor at Bayfield.

Some of the islands are fairly close together.

The remnants of the landing where blocks from the brownstone quarry on Hermit Island were loaded on ships and taken to the mainland.

Rocky shoreline - probably Hermit Island.

I was trying to get a photo of the bald eagle at the top, and I managed to get its mate as well.

A lichen covered rocky overhang. In the shallow water you can see fallen rocks.

Even though it's in a lake, these detached rocks are still called "sea stacks".

Historic fish camp on Manitou Island.

The open waters of Lake Superior. The barely visible land on the other side is Minnesota's North Shore.

The Devil's Island Lighthouse. The building to the right is a maintenance shed. The more substantial Keeper's House (not visible) is inland and to the left.

The north shore of Devil's Island faces the full brunt of Lake Superior's storms and has been eroded into fanciful shapes. Tour boats can only go around Devil's Island on relatively calm days. Today was an exceptionally calm day!

More of the eroded Devil's Island shoreline.

Headlands and islands.

The shoreline of Raspberry Island.

The Raspberry Island Lighthouse. The Keeper's and Assistant Keeper's quarters are on either side of the lighthouse. No need to go outside to go to work!

A solar-powered beacon has replaced the lighthouse for navigation. In the daytime it's barely discernible.